Being fat now the new normal

BEING fat is the new normal. The nation’s obesity problem has become so severe fat people don’t even recognise they have a weight problem, according to a troubling new survey.

It is creating a major headache for public health advocates, who say people can’t be motivated to change their habits if they think their weight is normal.

The Shape of Australia research from the Heart Foundation and Cancer Council Victoria Live Lighter project has found just one in four obese people (BMI over 30) see themselves as very overweight.

Two in three obese people thought they were just overweight and one in 10 thought they were of average weight, the survey of 2000 Aussies aged 25-49 found.

And astoundingly, half the people who were overweight (BMI 25-29.9) described themselves as of average weight.

Live Lighter campaign manager and dietitian Alison McAleese says now two in three Australians are above a healthy weight and believe “it is normal to be overweight”.

“You look around you and you see other people of higher weight and you think you look average,” she says.

“If you don’t realise you are above a healthy weight you are unlikely to be motivated to make a change.”

Ms McAleese says the best way to check if you are overweight is to measure your waist circumference.

Women are considered overweight and at greater risk of diabetes and heart disease if their waist circumference is 80cm or higher and at even higher risk if it is 88cm or more.

Men are in trouble if their waist circumference is 94cm or higher and are at greater risk of disease if their waist circumference is 102cm or more.

Just one in five people surveyed met the guidelines for 30 minutes of exercise five times a week and one in seven did not exercise at all.

The most interesting finding was that older people, those aged 45-49, were more likely to get sufficient exercise than younger Australians.

Only one in 10 people eat enough vegetables and one in four are not confident about managing their weight.